


A modern fic thats actually asian-centric

by spideytorch_parkner



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asian Character(s), BAMF Suki, Badass Suki (Avatar), Boys In Love, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Lesbian Toph Beifong, M/M, Oblivious Zuko (Avatar), Pining Sokka (Avatar), Romance, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, zukka - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:08:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27066160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideytorch_parkner/pseuds/spideytorch_parkner
Summary: ALRIGHTY STOP RIGHT THERE! This fic is for anyone who's tired of westernized avatar fics! This is a fic based around japanese and other asian school norms! Now that you've read this, now for a teaser!He huffs as their home room teacher- Mr. Piandao- walks in the room. “Alright, whatever. I'll talk to him at lunch. I'm gonna go back to my desk.”Suki waves at him, before looking back up. “Oh, yeah, invite him to study night!”Mr. Piandao calls for attention and homeroom starts.
Relationships: Aang & Toph Beifong & Katara & Sokka & Suki & Zuko, Aang/Katara (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Past Mai/Zuko - Relationship, Past Sokka/Suki, Sokka & Suki (Avatar), Sokka & The Gaang (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	1. Sokkas day; Of pining and soccer practicw

**Author's Note:**

> Okay! Some notes:  
> -this fic is based mostly around the japanese school system  
> -i am a white american, please cut me some slack and tell me if you notice any mistake on how the school would work’  
> \- i gave some of them last names to help it make more sense for an asian setting: Sokka and katara- Ilannaq  
> Suki- Kyoshi  
> Aang- Gyatso  
> Zukos fam- agni  
> Harus- literally just means rock in chinese so they call him rock man
> 
> Enjoy! <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I did change the ending a bit so if you have already read it, sorry if i confuse you)

Sokka groans into his pillow as his alarm goes off. He looks up at the clock and sighs. 5:00.

Getting up, he quickly stretches, loosening his muscles, and puttered towards the bathroom. Katara's door is open, and he smiles, spotting her still asleep on her bed. She’d wake up soon after he leaves, earlier to ride the train with Aang and swim a few laps before school. 

He brushes his teeth, and his hair, carefully tying up his wolf tail. He looks in the mirror, then nods, satisfied as he heads downstairs.

Sokka sweeps into the kitchen happily. Grabbing the bannock and a banana, he sets it on the counter, heading towards the cabinet to make oatmeal.

It's not his favorite food, true, but with some banana slices and eating it with bannock and berries, it's pretty good. And just what he needs before practice. 

He quickly finished off the meal, cleaning up. Sokka frowns at the counter, noticing what was probably leftover from katara making their lunch last night. He rolled his eyes, cleaning it up and heading back up the stairs.

He quickly changed into casual clothes, school uniform folded in his bag, and grins at his reflection. “Hello, handsome.” He does finger guns at himself as he walks out, bag over his shoulder. 

He heads into Katara's room first, giving the girl a kiss on her forehead and earning a sleepy grunt in response. He snorts, walking into their dad's room.

Grabbing a bottle of pain medication, he sets it on the mans night stand, and quickly scribbles a note;

_Enjoy your day off. Make sure to take 2 pills when your leg starts hurting and keep it elevated._

_-Sokka_

He pulls the blanket over his dad and sighs, leaving the room to head back downstairs. 

Outside, Suki is waiting for him as he grabs his bike. She grins as he hops on, taking off beside her.

“Mornin slowpoke! What took you so long, it's already 5:30!” She reaches over, taking a hand off her bike to lightly punch his shoulder. 

He shoots a grin back at her. “Had to clean up the kitchen, plus get out the pain medicine for dad. He keeps forgetting, or not taking it on purpose.”

Suki nods. “How's Hakotas leg doing?”

Sokka sighs. His dad had been a soldier on active duty, before a bad hit had injured his leg and got him honorably discharged. Not like Hakota saw it that way. He saw it as a failure. Sokka was determined to make him see otherwise.

“It's better. Only aches when he's on it a lot. Still want him to take the pain medicine though. I mean seriously, his doctor told him to! But he's determined to ‘tough it out’ or something. Seriously.” He huffs, crouching lower on his bike in irritation.

Suki whistles, drowning out as they go down a hill and air rushes past their ears. She turns to him when they level out. “I know you feel at fault for this, sokka. Dont. You’ve tried your best. It just takes time.”

He nods, unblinking at her earnest expression. She smiles at him and turns forward, spending the rest of the ride in silence

When they arrive at the school, sokka locks up his bike on a rack next to suki, then heads to the soccer club room. Unlocking the door, he heads inside, changing quickly.

He usually likes to finish dressing and be on the field by 6:15, even though voluntary morning practice didn't start until 6:30.

Quickly changing into the soccer uniform colours- purple, green and blue- he grabbed a practice ball, leaving the club room. He greets one of his teammates outside. “Hey, Sato.”

Hiroshi sato- a smart dude, alternate on the soccer team, and generally a pretty nice guy. He smiles at sokka as he walks into the club room. “Hey, Cap. Good morning?” Sokka nods, smiling. “Good as any. See you out on the field.” Sato nods and goes in to change.

15 minutes later, out on the field, most of the soccer club is there, standing around sokka. He claps his hands. “Okay! Remember, we’ve got practice tonight with coach Bato, but for now, let's just run through some drills and plays, okay?”

The teens nod, moving to follow sokka's directions. Around 7:30, Sokka looks around while watching the team work. He spots Katara walking up to the school with Aang. The girl heads to the pool house, looking up and waving at sokka. He waves back, then calls out to aang, who's walking towards the soccer field.

“Aang! Whats up, dude?” 

Aang grins at him, jogging the last few meters towards the group, who have stopped their drills to say hi to the boy.

Aang is the Class rep of 1-A, and generally a popular guy. He likes to check in on clubs, and always says hi to people in the hall. He tutors, so lots of people owe him for their good grades. Not that he wants anything in return. The little monk is an angel in that way. Just about everyone likes him- it's hard not to.

“Hey, sokka. Hey, guys! How's practice going?”

The team grins at him. Haru nudges sokka ribs. “Ilannaq here is putting us through the ringer.” 

Sokka scowls, shoving him off jokingly. “Uh-huh, sure, mr rock. I'm just running drills right now. Anyways, it's the only morning practice this week- Toph reserved the field for the rest of the week in the morning.”

Aang nods. “Yeah, they've got a competition coming up, i'm not surprised. She's a first year team captain, she's determined to be the best.”

Sokka shrugs. “I mean, with Toph on the team, how can they lose? I thought the incredible beifong was a one-woman show?”

Aang giggles. “Don't let her hear that. She might just compete solo.”

Sokka grins. “She’d probably win, knowing her.”

A loud cough startles them, and they turn to see the team watching them, exasperated. “Hey, cap, maybe we should get back to practice?”

Sokka gives haru a sheepish look. “Yup, sorry rocky. Gotta go, aang. See you later.”

Aang walks towards the school, waving. Sokka guesses he's going to hang out while Katara does her pool laps for a bit. 

The team continues for another half hour or so before sokka checks his watch. “Ah- shoot guys, it's nearly 8. Go on, get showered and changed. You better not be late to class!”

  
  


————

  
  


Sokka walks into the classroom at 8:30, having changed into his school shoes at the entrance, and stops in the doorway. Suki is there, of course, always managing to be just ahead of him, and so is Zuko Agni.

Zuko is a bit of a mystery in their school. Everyone knows who he is, of course- son of a billionaire, Ozai agni, who owns and runs Agni Industries, a business conglomerate. Everyone knows 3 years ago Zuko appeared one day, a terrible scar on his face, and Ozai told the media that Zuko's younger sister, Azula, would inherit the company. A few people know Zuko lives with his rich, and far more mellow uncle iroh. Sokka learned from Aang, whose adopted dad, Gyatso, plays pai sho with Iroh.

Zuko does art club for his necessary extracurricular, but never really talks to anyone. He's the third highest in their class- First Suki, of course, then sokka, then zuko. The only class sokka was ahead of Suki was haikus. 

Sokka walks over, placing his bag next to his desk and walking over to stand by suki. They chat for a bit while other classmates filter in, talking about class and clubs, all the while Sokka throws Zuko discreet glances.

Or, at least, he thinks they’re discreet until Suki raises an eyebrow at him. “Are you going to keep staring at him, or are you going to say hi?”

Sokka blushes, slapping her arm. “I can't just say hi!” He hisses, looking over to see if anyone heard them. She rolls her eyes, snorting at him. “It's not that hard. Just do this.”

She turns to the boy sitting across the room, at the desk next to Sokka’s. “Hey, Agni, sup dude?” 

Zuko looks up in alarm, before spotting Suki and relaxing. “Oh, hey Kyoshi. Good morning.”

She nods at him, smiling while he turns his attention back to his notebook. Suki turns to Sokka with a smug look. “See? Easy.”

At that moment, Jet- asshole jock- decides to walk past the classroom. He catches sight of zuko and grins. “Hey, firebender. How's it going?” His voice is taunting, and sokka sees zuko tense. Sokka grinds his teeth in anger.

Luckily, suki is there. “Screw off, jet. Go run along to your pathetic little gang.” Jet scowls, but walks away.

He huffs as their home room teacher- Mr. Piandao- walks in the room. “Alright, whatever. I'll talk to him at lunch. I'm gonna go back to my desk.”

Suki waves at him, before looking back up. “Oh, yeah, invite him to study night!”

Mr. Piandao calls for attention and homeroom starts.

  
  


—————

  
  


As the lunch bell rings, Sokka goes to grab his bag, then stops with a jolt. “Ahhh, crap!”

Suki looks at him, already holding a box with rice, some sort of beef, fruits, and dumplings in it. “Whats up?”

Sokka grumbles. “I forgot my lunch this morning. Crap.”

Suki rolls her eyes. “Im sure katara noticed and grabbed it. Let’s just go down and eat in their homeroom.”

He nods, glancing towards zuko. Oh well, he could just talk to the boy after school. Or when they had P.E this afternoon. 

He and Suki head out, walking towards the staircase. While the first years have to stay on their floor during lunch time, usually choosing to eat lunch in their homeroom classrooms, the 2nd and 3rd years can move around as they please, provided they aren't late to class and don’t leave campus. 

Sokka walks through the open door of Class 1-A, greeting Mr. Pakku, Katara's homeroom teacher in the hall. Suki follows him in, and grins as she spots toph, Aang and katara in a group.

Katara takes one look at sokka's guilty expression and leans down, grabbing a container and tossing it at sokka. “Here you go, dummy. Beef stew with sea prunes and seaweed noodles.”

He grins at her, grabbing the box and digging in enthusiastically. “fanks Kadara!” She rolls her eyes at him and goes back to chatting with her boyfriend. 

Suki gives toph, who's currently shoveling dumplings into her face, a look. “Is that the entire meal, toph?”

The girl grins, looking slightly to the left of suki. “All i get to eat at home is stupid fancy food, so i asked the cook to give me a buncha pork dumplings for school. It's the best.”

Suki nods, grabbing chop sticks from her own container and handing them to toph. “I know you know how to use these without seeing. Please do.”

The younger girl grumbles, but grabs the utensils and continues shoveling food in her face.

Sokka looks around, spotting a familiar dark figure sitting in the courtyard as he looks out the hallway window. Suki follows his gaze and nudges his arm. “Go, talk to him. I'm going to talk about girl stuff with them.”

Sokka rolls his eyes. “Aang is still here, ya know.”

She shrugs, grinning. “He doesn't count. Aang's nice.” Sokka gives her a mock offended look, gasping, but stands up. He hands his container back to katara, leaning over to kiss her cheek, and heads toward the door.

He's outside, heading to the table Zuko’s sitting at, when a mocking voice calls out. “Oh, Zuzu!”

Sokka curses. Azula. Zuko's genius younger sister, who is incredibly proud of this fact, and loves to rub her so-called superiority all over her brother's face. Zuko's face seems to reflect sokka thoughts, because while he doesnt look up, his expression is very telling.

“Zuzu, why so glum? Shouldn't you be eating, or hanging out with friends? Oh, wait, you don't have any.” She laughs, so does one of her lackeys, another first year named Ty Lee. Her other ‘friend’, a 2nd year named Mai, just examines her nails boredly. It's no secret she isn't fond of zuko- he dumped her in first year, and she seemed to never quite get over it. Or maybe she has, and just doesn't care about him anymore.

In any case, sokka won't stand for the jeering while he can stop it. 

“Hey, Zuko, there you are! I've been looking for you, come eat with us! And hey, you’re coming to study night, right?” Wrapping an arm around the startled boy, he shoots a look at azula. 

She gives him an irritated look. While azula may look down on everyone, Sokka had a reputation of not being someone to mess with. Between Sokka doing Kendo, being soccer captain, his dad being ex-military, and him generally being one of the smartest people in his grade, azula was smart enough not to try anything right now.

She just scofs and stalks away. Belated, Sokka realizes his arm is still around zuko. The blck haired boy looks up at him in confusion, long hair covering half of his face. Sokka pulls back with a nervous grin.

“Hey, sorry for the unexpected contact, just wanted to help out.”

Zuko nods, face slightly red. “Ah- thanks. Azula can be a pain, even on good days.” Sokka nods.

“Yeah. Though- um, my offer still stands.”

Zuko furrows his brow. “What?”

Sokka rubs his neck. “Study night, if you want. Its just me and some friends.”

Zuko gives him a guilty look. “Sorry, i cant. Im helping my uncle at the tea shop tonight. Thanks, though.”   
  


Sokka nods, dissapointment in his chest. “Hey, thats alright. See you in class. He walks off before Zuko can respond. When he joins the others, Katara and Suki give him knowing looks. “Oh, shut up.”


	2. Why must i make them suffer so?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And suddenly there are rough hands on him, pulling him up, slamming him into the wall. He cant see who it is, with water in his one good eye- friend, or, more likely, foe.
> 
> “Get lost, rich boy? I think you’re in the wrong part of town. See, we don't like your type around here.” His voice is gravelly, hands gripping ever tighter on Zuko's arms.
> 
> So. Definitely foe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little look into zukos life- hes not quite the recluse youd think!

Zuko tries not to notice Sokka's disappointment as he walks away-tries not to think too deeply about it. He turns back to his drawing, eyeing the sketch dubiously before ripping it out. He can never quite draw sokka right- can never get his smile quite as happy, his eyes bright enough.

He huffs, resigning himself to just go back up to the classroom. Might as well do his math homework. 

  
  


—————

  
  


After school, he grabs his bag, quickly changing back into his tennies and walking towards his uncles tea shop.

He smiles at his neighbor, Ms. Lee when he spots her in her garden. She waves back at him, returning his smile before going back to her tomatoes.

Zuko walks into the tea shop, waving briefly at his uncle before going upstairs to drop his stuff off in his room and change.

He breathes in when he reaches his room, smiling at the small space. At his old house, his room felt so empty, so cold. The large, old mansion had never quite suited him- the deep red walls, the stale feeling in the air. His current room is so familiar- pale green walls, with fairy lights and polaroids of him and his uncle decorating them.

He throws on the tea shop uniform, tying his hair back as he walks down the stairs. His uncle grins at him. “Ah, handsome as always nephew. Would you please help Mrs. Mushi with her tea?”

Zuko smiles back and nods, sweeping over to the table. The old lady gives him a pat on the head, rambling about his charming smile as he brings her Chamomile tea over.

“This is why I come to the jasmine dragon- such a kind young man, and handsome to boot- even with such an unsightly scar.” Zuko gives her a tight smile- the woman often made comments like this, he just ignored them and moved on.

“Thank you, Mrs. Mushi. Make sure you say hi to Mr. Mushi for me and my uncle.”

“I will! Have a good day, young man!” He smiled at her and waved goodbye, as someone else walked in. He huffs at her retreating figure.

  
  


The rest of his afternoon goes by in a similar fashion- old people and some teenagers coming in for tea, chatting a bit with zuko or iroh, and leaving. It's nice, a bit busy, but always refreshing for zuko after a long day at school.

He sighs as he locks up, his uncle already changed into his normal garb- soft, formal looking robes. He presses a kiss to zuko's forehead before walking towards the back door. “I'll be back after pai sho, nephew! Make sure you eat something healthy, or I’ll tell gyatso's son you've been skipping meals!” He exits, door closing behind him.

Zuko grimaces, waving goodbye. Aang is very.. enthusiastic about zuko's health. His adoptive dad played pai sho with uncle, and once when he noticed zuko hadn’t eaten dinner while there, he had brought zuko an entire vegetarian meal to school, sitting down and watching him eat it at lunch.

Wanting to avoid that option, he goes up to change, before grabbing his wallet and stepping outside. He checks his watch- 8:17, which means it will still be open. He walks for a few minutes, smiling as he reaches the little ramen shop a few blocks down from his uncle's store.

It's his favorite shop- a little hole in the wall place, run by friends of Zuko and iroh. Plus, it doesn't hurt that it's got the best ramen in town.

He walks in, the bell chiming above him. The girl at the counter turns to him, brown hair swinging behind her, and grins. “Hey, zuko! Nice to see ya! The usual for you?”

He nods, smiling as he sits in front of her. “That'd be great, thanks, Song. How are your legs?”

She grins at him and pulls her skirt up to her mid-thighs, revealing almost-healed scars. “Really great, please thank your uncle for me again. We could never have afforded the medical bills without you guys.”

Zuko waves a hand as she moves to prepare the food. “Like we said, it's the least we could do after my father’s company caused it- it still sucks they won the lawsuit.” He glowers at the mention of his father.

Song shrugs, setting a bowl of ramen- one egg, some chives, and beef chunks- in front of him. “Well, we couldn't even afford a good lawyer, so it's to be expected. I'd say it's on the house, but I know you’re just going to leave money anyway.”

He grins at her and with a quick thanks, digs in. She waves a notebook around. “Mind if i do some homework? I need to get off my feet and I'd bet you’re the last customer tonight.”

Zuko nods, relaxing as she sits in the stool next to him, the only sounds being soft music and the scratch of her pencil.

When he finishes eating, he waves Song off, walking around the counter himself after setting a few bills down, and reaches the sink, washing and drying the bowl. She gives him a thankful smile, then scratches her head. 

“Uh- you’re pretty good at english, right?” He nods, and she continues, “im sorta stuck on my homework, and i know you guys did this last year, so could you help?”

Moving around to look at her homework, Zuko studies the page for a moment before pointing out a sentence. “It would be more like, “the bear ate green leaves, not the bear leaves green ate. They do subject-verb-object, not subject-object-verb.” 

She grins at him, quickly going to scratch out the sentence. They stay like that for a bit, light chatter and calm atmosphere Zuko always enjoyed. Song's mom walked into the shop at one point and smiled at him, before reminding Song to lock up and heading upstairs. 

They sit in a comfortable silence, until Song asks; “So, how’re things going with that Sokka guy?”

Zuko blushes, avoiding eye contact. “He sorta- asked me to hang out, today?”

The song's eyes widen. “WHAT? Did you say yes?”

He shakes his head. “No, i was working at the tea shop earlier. Plus, i feel like immediately hanging out outside of school with all of his close friends would be… awkward, to say the least.”

She concedes that, nodding. “Well, chances are he's going to try again, and if he doesn't, you should ask!” She punches his shoulder, and he huffs.

“Yeah, sure, im just going to walk up to the most popular guy in school and go, ‘Hey, Sokka, i know in the past youve only dated cool, pretty popular girls, but i, the nerdy, gay, truamatized loser have a crush on you!”

Song snickers, smacking his leg. “Oh, whatever. You could be popular, if you actually, ya know, talked to people. You’re pretty likable.

He shrugs, sipping at the milk he grabbed from the fridge. “I guess. I just don't want to talk to people. They’re usually annoying, or jerks.” He checks his watch, then sighs. “I gotta go, Uncle’s going to be home soon. See ya, song.”

She opens her arms for a hug, and he obliges, leaning down to reach her on the stool. Waving as the door chimes, he walks out, taking the back-alley route home- a bit dirty, but saves him 5 minutes of the trip.

He gets a bad feeling, walking through the dark streets. It's not anything different than normal, but something makes his hair stand on end. 

As he passes through a particularly dark, damp alley, a shudder runs through him, goosebumps up his arms. In his haste to leave, he trips over something, falling face-first into a puddle.

And suddenly there are rough hands on him, pulling him up, slamming him into the wall. He cant see who it is, with water in his one good eye- friend, or, more likely, foe.

“Get lost, rich boy? I think you’re in the wrong part of town. See, we don't like your type around here.” His voice is gravelly, hands gripping ever tighter on Zuko's arms.

So. Definitely foe. He stumbles over his words, trying to defend himself. “You’ve got it wrong, i'm not-“

“We know who you are, Agni. Dont try to bullshit me, id have to be stupid to not know who you are.” Zuko can practically hear the sneer in his voice- smug and confident.

Zuko swears to himself. He means to fight back- he really does. But then there are more hands, more  _ fists,  _ and suddenly he's on the ground, and pain is radiating through his body, and he hears laughter, then footsteps.

And then they’re gone, but the pain is still there. And he's curled up in a disgusting alleyway, with what’re probably cracked ribs, and bruises that could put thanos’ purple skin to shame.

He grunts, struggling to stay awake. He's in so much pain, and his head is throbbing- probably from hitting a hard surface 3 different times- but passing out in a dirty, musty back alley is not good-

“Zuko?” And oh god that's sokka, what's he doing here, and sokka's walking towards him, running, calling his name, and now there are gentle hands on zuko's back. He trembles, trying to move away from the touch, the feeling of pain, but then black fills his vision and suddenly he can’t feel anything at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im sorry.
> 
> Also, did you notice the easter eggs (and full on character) from the og story?
> 
> Leave any thoughts in the comments! Love yall <3

**Author's Note:**

> As always, please let me know your thoughts or if you find any mistakes! Remember, im not perfect but im trying to listen and give better rep, so if you have anything with asian culture you want to see in the fic, dont hesitate to tell me! <3


End file.
